MOBILE COMMUNICATION

• describes any wireless communication link

between two terminals, two stations or
persons of which one or both are in motion.
• the communication is possible from mobile to
mobile or mobile to fixed (land telephony) or
fixed to mobile.
 Cellular Telephone Systems

• Cellular telephony is designed to provide

stable communication between two moving
devices or between one mobile unit and one
stationary unit.
 Cell Structure

• With the cellular concept, the geographical area is

divided into hexagonal-shaped cells that fit
together to form a honeycomb pattern.
• The hexagon shape was chosen because it
provides the most effective transmission by
approximately a circular pattern while eliminating
gaps inherently present between adjacent circles
 Frequency Reuse

• The process in which the same set of

frequencies (channels) can be allocated to
more than one cell, provided the cells are
separated by sufficient distance.
Cluster: group of cells which collectively uses the
complete set of available frequencies. Clusters can be of
size 7,12,19etc
• The cell B1 in the second cluster can allot the
same frequency as cell A1 in the cluster 1 and
so on. While selecting cells, it should be
ensured that there is no interference between
the two.
Frequency reuse distance D , N is cluster size
and R is cell radius
 TYPES OF CELLULAR TELEPHONY
• GSM (Global System for Mobile)
– It employs TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access)
or FDMA technology
– BSNL, AIRTEL, Aircel, Vodafone etc. are the mobile
service providers using GSM
• India and several European countries use the
same
• CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access)
– used in America, India
– Reliance communication Ltd uses CDMA.
• Mobile broadband system
– operate at a higher spectrum using ATM
(Asynchronous Transfer Mode) technology for
broadband packet switching
 Multiple Access technique
• FDMA : Frequency Division Multiple Access
• users share the available spectrum in the
frequency domain and each user is allocated a
part of frequency band on a demand basis
• TDMA: Time Division Multiple Access
• In TDMA available spectrum is portioned
into a number of time slots
• CDMA : Code Division Multiple Access
• The system utilizes spread spectrum
technique in which a spreading code called a
PN (Pseudo random Noise) code is used to
allow multiple uses to share a block of
frequency spectrum.
• the message from each user is modulated by
the unique PN code assigned to them and
then transmits over the entire CDMA channel.
 Comparison of GSM and CDMA
CDMA GSM
Based on spread spectrum technique Based on TDMA/FDMA
Improved privacy and security Less secure
Less probability of error High probability of error
Uses RUIM(removable user identity Uses SIM (subscriber identity
module) module)

Soft hand off Hard hand off

1.25MHz bandwidth 200KHz bandwidth
GSM
 Mobile Station

• It consists of mobile equipment and a smart card called

subscriber identity module(SIM)
• SIM provides security and authentication of the
subscriber so that the users have access to subscribed
services.
• the mobile equipment is uniquely identified by the
international mobile equipment identity (IMEI) . An
IMEI is marked invalid if it has been reported stolen or
is not type supported.
• The SIM card contains an international mobile
subscriber identity (IMSI) used to identify the
subscriber to the system.
 Base Station Subsystem
• It is the part of the network that provides
radio interconnection between the MS and
the switching equipment.
• It consists of BSC, BTS
• BTS (base transceiver station)
• It is located at the center of a cell and acts
as radio interface to the mobile station and
cellular network.
• A group of BTS are controlled by a BSC.
• All subscribers in a particular cell are
monitored and tracked continuously by BTS
and data is passed to MSC
• BSC (base station controller)
• Manages the radio resources for one or
more BTS’s
• It handles radio channel setup, frequency
hopping and handover.
• It is the connection between the mobile
station and mobile switching centre (MSC)
 Network Subsystem

• It consists of the mobile service switching centre

and its associated systems, control databases and
provides for interconnection between the GSM
network and the public switched telephone
network (PSTN).
• MSC is the central component of the network
subsystem and provides all the functionalities
needed to handle a mobile subscriber, such as
registration, authentication, location updating,
handover and cell routing to a roaming
subscriber.
• The Home Location Register(HLR) and Visitor
Location Register (VLR), together with the
MSC provides call routing and roaming
capabilities of GSM.
• The HLR contains the administrative
information of each subscriber registered in
the corresponding GSM network, along with
the current location of the mobile
• The VLR acts as temporary subscriber data
base for all subscribers and contain similar
information as that in HLR.
• The other two registers are Equipment
Identity Register (EIR) used for security
purpose, and authentication center (AUC)
used for authentication
• Advantages of GSM
• Triband and dual band GSM phones let you use your phone
in your own territory and the rest of the world while you
can’t do this with a CDMA phone.
• The use of SIM allows the users to switch networks and
handsets at will.
• GSM is open standard and therefore operators do not pay
royalties to utilize it.
• Stable network with robust features
• Talk time is generally higher in GSM phones due to pulse
nature of transmission.
• Ability to use repeaters.
CALL PROCESS
 CALL PROCESSING
Fixed network to Mobile
• The call from a fixed landline is originated in the
normal manner. Getting the mobile subscribers
number, the local exchange knows that the called
party is a mobile user.
• The call is routed to MSC of that particular mobile
service provider. The MSC then verifies the details
of the called subscriber regarding the
genuineness (post paid, prepaid etc).
• It then tracks the cell in which the called party is
currently located. The data is available at MSC,
which are obtained from the BTS of that
particular cell. The data will be continuously
updated.
• The called subscriber’s number is transmitted to
the particular BTS and is transmitted from the
antenna there.
• It is received by the called subscriber handset and
the ringing tone is actuated. Getting called
subscribers response, one channel frequency is
allotted by MSC for communication. The airtime
used for communication is recorded at MSC for
billing purpose.
 Hand Offs

• When the mobile unit travels along a path it

crosses different cells.
• As the frequency of different cells is different,
the transfer of call should be done between
different channels or cells.
• This process is called hand-off or hand-over
and the decision of hand-off is taken based on
the received signal strength and the carrier to
interference ratio information.
Hard handoff (break before make)
• Existing radio link must be dropped for a small
period of time
• Then taken over by another base station
• A call in progress redirected not only from a
base station to another base station but also
from its current transmit–receive frequency pair
to another frequency pair
• An ongoing call can not exchange data or voice
for this duration
 Soft handoff (make before break)
• Soft handover does not require breaking of
the radio link for cell-to-cell transfer of a call.
A mobile device can be simultaneously
connected to several base stations
• Used in CDMA